Sunday, 22 January 2012

Update and Excerpt

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night.... Pick which ever one suits the best. lol

I though I would stop by and let you guys know I haven't dropped of the face of the earth.
I am officially all moved into my new apartment as I unpacked my last two boxes yesterday. Very pleased with myself as it only took two weeks. So now that I no longer have any personal distractions hanging over me I'm hoping to get back into writing so I can get you guys more books. *fingers crossed*

It will be the one year anniversary next Sunday the 29 January for when my first book Unexpected Mate was released. I am hoping to do a short blog story with the boys seeing as how I didn't get the chance to do one at Christmas like I had originally planned.

As for now I have Dealing with the Dead that I desperately want to get back to writing and finish so I can make a start on Liam's story from the Atherton Pack.

So to get everyone in the mood for me to finish my book I thought I would share the first chapter with you all, seeing as you have all been so patient with me.

Please remember that this is unedited and my editors do so much work to fix up my stories, so please don't kill me for all the mistakes. Enjoy

Dealing with the Dead
The Thompson Agency Book 1

Chapter 1

Jayden Thompson unlocked and pushed open the doors to his family’s offices and walked inside. Not many people could work with their entire family six days a week, but it seemed to work for them. Jayden was thankful they all didn’t still live together. He thought that may have thrown him over the edge and caused a mass homicide. He could probably have convinced the police to let him off with a warning as no one can live and work with their large, and he meant large, family twenty four hours a day.

Jayden was the youngest at twenty, of seven siblings. He had six older brothers, his parents trying and failing to get the girl his mother had always wanted. All seven boys inherited their gift from their father and as such worked with their parents in the family business.

Walking through the still and silent building Jayden made his way until he came to his office. He was glad they all had their own offices as he liked his things just the way they were. Jayden turned on the lights and settled down at his desk before turning his computer on.

Waiting for his computer to finish loading Jayden pulled out the new files that had been placed in his in tray. The damn thing was empty when he left yesterday afternoon, but not anymore. Skimming through the files he found it was all basic stuff. Insurance companies wanting clarification on a cause of death so they hopefully didn’t have to pay out millions. Families wanting one last chance to say goodbye to a loved one who was taken from them suddenly.

His computer dinged when it had finished loading and Jayden placed the files to a side and opened his e-mail. He looked through the calendar first to see how many appointments had been added to his day since he last looked. Jayden groaned as he noticed he was nearly booked solid for the entire day.

As Jayden was the youngest he seemed to get stuck with all the less interesting jobs, as evidenced by the files in his in tray. His dad and his eldest brothers Jackson and Jessie always seemed to get the good ones. What his family didn’t realise yet was that Jayden was the most powerful of them all. He was the seventh son of a seventh son.

His brothers had started to show signs of their powers when they came of age at eighteen. Jayden, however, had felt his magic bubbling under the surface from the tender age of thirteen. He had not told his parents this, not wanting to appear different from his brothers; he had kept it to himself and tried to ignore it as best he could. This didn’t always work, however, as left unchecked and untrained his magic had a life of its own and tended to do things Jayden would rather forget.

He shuddered as he remembered walking home past the pet cemetery when he was only fourteen and seeing the forms of not just one but nearly every pet in the place. Being only a young boy Jayden had screamed and ran.

Jayden was born into a family of Necromancers. Yes, they could raise and converse with the dead for short periods of time and no, they were not evil. It was just another form of magic. Witches’ magic dealt with the living, Shifter magic came from within and Necromancer’s magic dealt with the dead. It was as simple as that.

Raising the dead was not an easy task. It took an amazing amount of energy and concentration. Normally a person was able to raise two or three people in a night, and each of those for maybe only ten minutes each. Jayden, however, knew for a fact he could raise someone and talk to them for hours without feeling drained, as he often went and spoke with his granddad when he was feeling lonely. Jayden hadn’t tested how many people he could raise in one night, but he figured it was a lot considering the pet cemetery incident.

History, and fiction, had gotten it completely wrong though. They didn’t physically raise the dead like creating zombies. Jayden

With all paranormal creatures there was a destined mate out there just for each of them. Jayden smiled at the thought of finally meeting his mate. His mum and dad were mates and they had been together for over thirty years. A mate was a necessity when you were a paranormal with a great deal of magic. A mate grounded you, gave you a measure of peace and was said they tamed the wild magic within, allowing it to flow more easily.

Necromancy was one of the more rare forms of magic. There were only a half a dozen agencies scattered all over Australia. The Thompson Agency was located in Darwin in the Northern Territory, as they were the largest and the best in the country there was usually a great deal of travel involved in their jobs. It probably would have been better if they were located in one of the larger cities like Sydney or Melbourne but Darwin was where his parents had met when his father was on a job up here and his mother had been waitressing at a café.

So his dad had moved and his parents had settled down. All seven of the brothers had been born here and he couldn’t imagine living in any other city. As they were in such high demand and they were the best at what they did, their services did not come cheaply.

Jayden pushed away from his desk and headed to the kitchen. If he was going to be forced to sit in his office all day and attend meetings he was going to make himself a coffee to help him along. His entire family were caffeine addicts and his parents had installed one hell of a coffee machine in their office kitchen.

Ten minutes later Jayden stepped out of the kitchen to make his way back to his office, his caramel macchiato held firmly in his hands. The first sip was always the best, the rich, smooth caramel coffee liquid slid down his throat and he groaned at the taste.

“If you sound like that over a coffee, I wonder what you sound like in bed” Jayden jumped, careful not to spill his precious coffee before he smiled and turned. Franny was the company receptionist and Jayden got along great with her.

“You’ll just have to keep wondering, cause you’ll never know.” Jayden said as he took another sip of his coffee.

Franny grunted. “I’m too much woman for you anyway” she said as she winked at him.

Jayden threw his head back and laughed. “Oh hell yeah, you are. Never doubt that. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I like men, or the fact that you’re nearly old enough to be my mother.” This time it was Franny’s turn to laugh.

“Hey what’s the deal with my schedule?”

“Sorry doll,” That’s all she said as she turned and headed back to the front of the offices and settled in at her desk. Jayden knew it wasn’t her fault but he didn’t have to like it.

Jayden took another sip of his coffee and headed back to his office. Everything always seemed better with coffee. Sitting back at his desk Jayden lost himself in his work. Reading over all the files for the meetings he had coming up. He always wanted to make sure he was as prepared as he possibly could be.

“Hi baby” Jayden cringed as he looked up into the beautiful face of his mother.

“Mum, how many times do I have to tell you I’m not a baby”

“No matter how old you get Jayden, you will always be my baby”

Jayden sighed, knowing he was beat. There was no reasoning with the logic of a mother.

“How are you this morning?” he asked his mother

“Good, business is booming, which is good for us but not good for all those poor people who have lost their loved ones.” Jessica Thompson had no magical ability what so ever but she loved her family no matter what they could do or who they were.Being unable to help out in the field Jayden’s mum took care of the business.

“I know mum, but we help them anyway we can”

“You’re a good boy Jayden, don’t forget dinner on Sunday” There was no way in hell Jayden was going to forget. The only thing he missed not living at home was his mother’s cooking. He loved Sunday dinner and his parent’s house, even if it was a loud, raucous affair with all his brothers there.

“Don’t worry I’ll be there with bells on” he told her

“No need for bells dear, just bring yourself” his mother said as she said her goodbyes and let him get back to work.

The day seemed to drag for Jayden, but that could just be because he didn’t enjoy this side of his work as much as some of his brothers did. The customers were always surprised when they got a look at Jayden, some even going so far as to complain to his parents, but Jaden refused to change who he was for anyone, if the clients didn’t like it they could go elsewhere as far as he was concerned. Jayden didn’t like meeting with the people any more than they liked meeting with him. He would be happy if all he ever had to do was show up at a cemetery and raise someone.

Before Jayden knew it he’s stomach was snarling loudly at him letting him know it was time for lunch. He checked his appointments and smiled when he noticed he had a whole hour allocated before his next one. Jayden stood and grabbed his sunglasses and patted his pockets to make sure he had both his phone and his wallet. Happy he had everything Jayden locked his computer and left his office.

He stopped by Frannie’s desk on his way out to let her know he was ducking down the road to get some lunch and asked if she wanted anything. Frannie declined as she had brought her lunch with her today so Jayden headed out. He didn’t bother asking anyone else because he didn’t know their schedules and thought it rude to interrupt a meeting with a client to ask if his brother wanted something for lunch.

Jayden looked up at the sky as he left his building and wandered down the street heading to his favourite sandwich shop. Jayden very rarely drove, unless he was going to an appointment or going to visit one of his family. As it was he lived in the city and worked there as well. He could get from home to work in less than fifteen minutes walking and work was a fiveminute walk from the mall and a number of little café’s and bakeries that catered to the lunch time crowds.

Living in a city that rained steadily for six months of the year meant Jayden had at least four umbrellas stashed between work and home, meaning he never got caught out. Noticing the dark clouds that had started rolling in, Jayden picked up his pace wanting to get his lunch and get back to the office before the heavens opened up.

You never could tell just exactly what you were in for sometimes. The sky would look as black as night and wouldn’t so much as drop a speck of rain and other times the sky would open up and release so much water you would be drenched from head to toe in seconds flat. Jayden loved those days.

There was nothing better than sitting on the balcony of his apartment and watching the lighting streak across the sky as the rain pelted down. Jayden loved the wet season; nowhere else in the country did they get storms like they did here.

Entering the little deli he loved so much Jayden waited in line like the all the other patient people. When it was finally his turn, Jayden ordered his favourite sandwich, one he didn’t indulge in too often but he needed the pick me up to get him through the rest of his day.

“Can I please have a sandwich on white bread with a schnitzel and bacon, sliced cheese, lettuce, tomato, beetroot and some grated carrot with salt and pepper and a little mayo. Thanks” Jayden knew it was probably bad for him but he didn’t care. The damn thing was delicious. He grabbed a bottle of water out of one of the many fridges, trying to offset some of the bad in his sandwich with a healthy drink.

Jayden watched as the lady behind the counter put together his lunch, not forgetting anything like a lot of people these days that needed an order repeated to them several times and still forgot a key ingredient. Once his sandwich was wrapped he paid for his meal and headed back to the office.

The first sprinkles of rain were starting just as he stepped through the front doors to his building. Jayden pressed the button to call the lift and waited patiently for it to arrive. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, his stomach growling at him, letting him know it wasn’t happy at the delay in getting to eat his lunch.

Finally the lift arrived and Jayden pressed the button for the seventh floor. He chuckled quietly to himself. His parents really had a thing for the number seven. Jayden sighed in relief as the ding announced his arrival at his floor.

Stepping out of the lift Jayden pushed open the doors to the Thompson Agency’s office and stopped dead in his tracks as the sexiest man he’d even seen stood in the middle of the reception area talking with both his parents and his eldest brother Jackson.

The man truly was stunning, he stood eye to eye with his father, putting him close to the six four mark, dark brown hair cut short in a typical ‘men’s style’, wide shoulders framed nicely in the charcoal grey suit he was wearing, leading down to a nicely shaped ass that Jayden would love to sink his teeth into. He could see the hint of stubble on the man’s cheeks from the angle he was standing at and wondered what it would feel like to have it rubbing against his body.

It took a minute for their conversation to finally penetrate Jayden’s brain functions.

“I’m sorry Mr Michaels but we can’t help you” his father said

“It can’t be done” Jackson piped up adding his two cents worth

“Please, you must know someone, maybe another company?”

“I’m sorry but no, as I said we are the best in the country and my sons are only able to raise someone for a maximum of fifteen minutes, any longer than that and they could do some serious damage from over excerpting their powers. I truly wish we could help you, but I’m afraid what you ask for isn’t possible.”

The man, Mr Michaels, looked resigned like he knew what Jayden’s father was going to tell him but had to try anyway.

“Well thank you for your time” He shook hands with Jayden’s father and before Jayden even knew what had possessed him to open his mouth the words were already leaving his lips.

visit my website

Forbidden Mate

Protective Mate

Determined Mate

Unexpected Mate

Horn & Halos collection

Cabin for Two: An Anthology

Hidden Wolf

About Me

Well, what can I say about me? I grew up in the north of Australia. I'm 29, recently single and a mother of one. I work full time and when I'm not spending time with my family and friends, you can find me either reading on my Kindle or writing.
I would love to hear any feedback you have so please drop me a line at info@tonigriffin.net